Is Thailand Making you Fat?

When I first moved to Thailand almost 5 years ago I was 72kg, 4 years on I weighed 82 kilograms. At least for me Thailand made me fat. I always thought that coming to Thailand I would lose weight! If you look at most Thai people they look pretty thin right? But for the past 3 months I've been looking at the situation differently and have come to the conclusion that Thailand is making people fat!

Firstly Thai people are not thin, they are what I call skinny fat. They appear skinny but really they are just small boned which helps give us the illusion that they are thin. Next time your with a Thai girl ask her to get on a scale that can measure her body fat percentage as well. I've been doing that lately and found that many girls, even ones that appear really thin have more than a 24% body fat percentage.

Eating a lot of junk food back in the states I was still less heavy that I was eating fried rice and Pad Thai. Thailand is awesome in the fact that if you're on a super budget you can still get by. Eating at food side stalls for 30 baht a pop might be light on the wallet but it's not exactly light on the stomach. Take a look at some of the nutritional stats of the food they sell on the side of the street. The facts are suprising. While most Thai food is better than fast food the stats don't really add up in reality. For 30 baht your getting crap rice and enough oil to drown a rat.

Fat Getting Fatter

When I moved here I met this Irish guy, likable character who I'd see in Starbucks nearly every day. He enjoys the Thai street food as much as anyone. Now almost 5 years on he too looks like he's put on a lot of weight and admits to me he's now 15kg heavier. The problem he tells me is time. He's so preoccupied doing nothing that he'll just sit at coffee shops and hanging around few beers and parties over a few years it's taken it's toll.

My mate isn't the only guy, I too fell into the rut as has many other thousands of Farang. You might be him too. Fried rice and Pad Thai, noodles and other bullshit is fattening and believe it or not this is not what Thai people eat! In a Thai household you're more likely to eat fish, som tam, random vegetables and even more random meat followed by a blast of hot peppers to make sure none of the shit stays in your body. There's no Starbucks and lazy days eating cake.

Did you put on weight in Thailand?

So I wonder if the majority of people out there has experienced the same as me. Has Thailand made you fat? Please let me know by filling out the form below or leaving a comment.

22 Responses to Is Thailand Making you Fat?

Yes, it is true I also noticed that Thai girls look quite thin but they aren’t actually! Most of them have quite some “love handles” but they are also pretty good at concealing it 😀
For myself I dropped a lot of weight. It is kind of hard to keep my ideal weight. On the other side if you don’t work out and only hang out and being lazy you can’t expect to be thing neither in Thailand nor in your country of origin.

I think getting fat is probably OK for guys, as most women will say that they prefer big guys. I have been thin all my life and Thailand is definitely not making me fat. Every girlfriend I have had at some point mentions the “if you put on a bit of weight you’d be so handsome” line. I don’t really mind, most of the time I never think of it but guys getting fat is better that being too thin. Still, might not necessarily be good for your health and life expectancy.

24% body fat is normal for woman. You’re basing your numbers on numbers you find on the internet. 99% of those numbers are posted by bodybuilders and fitness people. Even a skinny hot girl will have at least 21% body fat.
Yup fit western girls that diet and go to gym will have 16% body fat. But you can’t get those girls. Thats why you’re in Thailand. Now stop complaining.
This is from the Mayo Clinic in the US that has done the most research on Obesity

You provide the right information but it depends on age. I only like girls under 20 and under 20 24% fat you’re basically average, 19-23% is more ideal for girls this age. I mentioned the women because yeah they look thin but as per my point their basically just average. I’m in Thailand cause my family live here.

Hi Chris. Interesting read and quite relevant to my interest as I just moved to Thailand 2 months ago. I have had the opposite problem, the first 3 weeks of my stay I lost 5kg of fat and muscle even though I ate and ate, both street food and farang food. And on the 5th week after loosing 7kg I was very concerned so I went to hospital to have myself checked. They suggested it was the bacterial flora in my stomach that was eating up all my food……..I have no idea if that is true or not but at least they didnt want to make a big deal about it. It is now week 9 and I am kind of keeping up, not lost weight and not gained weight. But I eat A LOT more in Thailand then I ever did back home.

Did anyone experience similar “problem” the first months of their stay? Will it get better? And thanks for a great website Christ I have used a lot of info from here since I came over.

Where can i get some of your bacterial flora ? 555 After 15 months i’m +15kg, Yes i eat a lot of street food 3 times a day, drink many beers and whisky every day but in my country it was same, without the thai street food….

They said something about my bacteriflora changing since I came to Thailand I don’t know since I am no doctor. All I know I have a hard time keeping up my weight here. How ever I don’t drink beer…..maybe that would solve the problem

I also came here 6 years ago weighing 72 kg , after 6 years it was 82 as well . Now i am losing weight by eating almost daily a baguette with smoked chicken or roast beef.
No more pork for me did the trick.

Usually when abroad or travelling I put on weight from all the doing nothing, drinking and eating junk food but this time I’m not drinking every day, eating a sandwich I make at home for lunch and then thai food for dinner and not snacking much and the weight is falling off. I definitely don’t need to lose weight as pretty light already but I don’t mind as long as don’t loose too much.

I find that in the hot climate I don’t have the same appetite as back home so I tend to eat about twice a day as against 3 – 4 times in the UK.

I walk much more than at home, sweat more, swim more and various other exercise from time to time 😉
I don’t rent a motorbike or get a baht bus to go 200 metres.
Rarely have fastfood such as McDonalds or KFC. Don’t eat much street food either.
I’m not sat in a beer bar from 10am. Average about 4 – 5 small bottles of beer most nights. Don’t go out ’till 10pm+

Chris, your weight gain might also have to do with metabolism changes. It happens to most guys in their late twenties.

Personally I lost weight the first time I was in Thailand, but now that I know of all the delicious stuff they offer (snacks, fruits, etc.), I’m only able to keep my weight, though I eat a lot more than when I’m at home, where it’s a struggle to stay at the same weight.

I see lots of fat thai people, but I think it’s a combination of soft drinks and unwillingness to do physical activity (even walking).

I left the UK in early 2009 for Thailand at which point i was in shape and 11 stone, i arrived back in the UK late 2012 weighing 14 stone. I lived on the street food, thai bbq, and all the other stuff. It looks healthy, vegetables, rice, fish but they just soak it all in oil.

Came to Thailand about 6 years ago at about 110 kilos, dropped down to about 95after about a year. Dropped to about 90 after working out for 6 months. I think the heat definitely helped out, loosing a lot of the water weight. Hurt my back, couldn’t go to the gym, had to take it easy with activities and what not. Jumped up to about 114 kilos after about 2 years of being lazy, eating crap food, and drinking too much.

Cut out the beer, have a good drinking session once a month or so. Started cooking most of my own food in bulk, freezing it up. Started going to the gym again for about a year and am now down to about 87 kilos.

My weight varies here. If I were to still work out and eat crap food and drink, I would probably just maintain my weight. If I continue to eat healthy and work out I will loose weight. Simple math. Just hope this back keeps holding up.

The body fat that one has is dependent on their tetesterone levels. As a young man, with high levels, the body fat is low. When you get older, your levels drop, and with the drop comes an increase in body fat.

Complicating this matter / issue is sperm ejaculation.

Each time a man ejaculates, he releases sperm and tetesterone.

With lower tetesterone levels, such as with older men, each time they have sex they lower their levels, and thus become more prone to get fat. It is a bad cycle, especially when you are living in Asia. In China, there is the syndrome known as “Beijing Bikini”, where sexually active older men get this big pregnant belly, and so they roll up their Tee-shirt to expose it to a cooling breeze.

Exercise, Have More Sex. Eat a Balanced Diet with Calories that don’t cause you to gain weight. Foreigners gain weight here because they live at the bar. Drink beer full of calories, eat crappy food, are waited on hand and foot, and don’t work out. Or you can ignore science and just stop having sex. UP2U